The bitter taste of last year鈥檚 playoff elimination still lingers for Tyler Going.

As the Okanagan Sun defensive back enters his third season with the club, that hint of defeat still remains from last season as Going and his teammates focus on a new season bidding to reach the Canadian Bowl junior football championship.

鈥淭he expectation is the same thing every year, it鈥檚 to win a championship,鈥� said Going.

鈥淭he players are going everything we can, and our coaches are doing everything they can to get us to that point.鈥�

Going is using last year鈥檚 39-7 BCFC loss on their Apple Bowl home turf as motivation to succeed this season.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be a champion if you don鈥檛 know what it鈥檚 like to be defeated before. We鈥檝e got to forget about last year,鈥� Going said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a whole different team and whole different atmosphere. I think it鈥檚 looking good.鈥�

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The Sun started their season on Aug. 3 with a 26-3 victory against Kamloops, and although the win wasn鈥檛 pretty, it was still a win.

The season-opener win came right after Going was named the eighth-best player in the league by the Canadian Junior Football League.

He鈥檚 one of two Sun players to rank in the top 10 rankings of the entire league, which has 18 teams and well over 900 players.

鈥淚 was a bit surprised, to be honest, I didn鈥檛 think I was gonna go eighth, but it鈥檚 a big honour to be recognized by the league as one of the top players,鈥� he said.

鈥淣ow, I need to go out there and prove to people why the league was right.鈥�

DB Tyler Going of the had a breakout season and lands at #8 on the list. Photo: Jason Harding

鈥� CJFL News (@CJFLnews)

Head coach Jamie Boreham has said from the season鈥檚 outset it would take the mixture of veteran leaders and newcomers to blend together to revive the Sun鈥檚 championship hopes.

And Going knows that he will be called upon as one of those veterans to provide leadership.

鈥淓very day at practice we鈥檙e working hard towards our goal of a championship,鈥� said Going.

鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 leading by example. It starts with practice, it starts with being in the locker room and being a brotherhood.

鈥淭here are lots of guys doing a good job with that.鈥�

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The Okanagan Sun take on the Valley Huskers in their next matchup on Saturday night.

After the first-game jitters against Kamloops which led to penalties and turnovers, Going is ready to learn from the mistakes moving forward.

鈥淚t was nice after not playing football for (almost) eight months, to get that win. We were a little loose and we screwed up here and there,鈥� said Going.

鈥淏ut now that we and all the other teams got the first-game jitters out, all the teams are going to be better.

鈥淲e got to be ready to go, it鈥檒l be a first road game for a lot of our team. We have to go in there and do our jobs.鈥�

鈥淰alley has some good players, but I think we have better football players and a better team.鈥�

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Going looks to repeat as a B.C. conference all-star team again this season and aspires to earn his first All-Canadian nod.

But above all else, Going said that earning a spot in the Canadian Bowl remains the ultimate goal.

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